Retiring or not, Selig keeps tight lid on news

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig speaks before Game 4 of baseball's World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Texas Rangers Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
— AP

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig speaks before Game 4 of baseball's World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Texas Rangers Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
/ AP

On the evening of Game 7 of the World Series, Selig held an impromptu news conference, ostensibly to bask in the reflected glow of Game 6. For years, his recurring theme has been that this is baseball’s “golden age,” and he is always quick to pounce on proof.

One day after the St. Louis Cardinals had twice rallied from within one strike of elimination to force a decisive game with the Texas Rangers — two second-tier payroll teams creating one of the most memorable games of any October — Selig appeared on short notice in a converted dining room at Busch Stadium to muse about that magical night and of a future unclouded by labor pains.

Near the end of the formal session and hours away from the theoretical start of Selig’s lame-duck season, I asked him about the process of identifying his successor. According to the official transcript, the exchange went as follows:

ME: “If we take you at your word, you’re winding down your tenure here. Is there a mechanism in place to find your successor? And when would that process start?”

HIM: “There isn’t a mechanism in place, but it’s something that I’ve thought a lot about and we’ll continue to talk about it. I know it’s a year from December 31st, and there are some people on both sides of the room, starting with my wife, I’m happy or sad to say, but she’s somewhat skeptical.

“I’m trying to be kind to others in the room.”

Others in the room included baseball owners, some of Selig’s relatives and members of his staff, and the looks on their faces said “skeptical” was a euphemism. No one really believes he’s ready to walk away. Nor, so far, does he need a cart.